Opposition to gay marriage is like racism, says Aboriginal newsreader

Mixed-race lesbian Australian news reader has likened opposition to gay marriage to opposition to interracial marriages a generation ago.

The face of Channel 10 news in Perth, Narelda Jacobs, whose mother is English-Irish and father is Aboriginal, said that at the time of her parents’ wedding ‘it was a major issue to have an interracial marriage’.

‘I’m just hoping that in years to come it’s going to be looked upon like that, just as people will now say, “I can’t believe people had an issue with a white woman marrying a black man”. I’m just hoping that one day soon people will say, “I can’t believe gays could never marry”.’

The first openly gay newsreader in Western Australia, Jacobs lives with her partner and teenage daughter in Perth.

The consensus from the Senate Inquiry into same-sex marriage in Australia will be announced later today.